


A Puppy For Christmas

by heartsdesire456



Series: 25 Days of Fandom [16]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Dogs, Fluff, Gen, Puppies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-17
Updated: 2014-12-17
Packaged: 2018-03-01 21:06:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2787761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But Fitz doesn't even like dogs...</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Puppy For Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> This is totally an 'origin story' for a later fic that you shall see probably RIGHT after Christmas. 
> 
> But it works for my Christmas series for now!
> 
> This is allll for Amber, cause she wanted PUPPIES OF SHIELD! lol.

Fitz sighed as he was dragged along by his elbow. “Jemma, come on. I’ve got better things to do on my day off than a pet fair-“

“Fitz!” she chastised, glaring at him. “These dogs have nowhere to go and this is the perfect time for them to get adopted. People feel extra caring during the holidays. Also, people who are going to get pets for their children often do it on Christmas.”

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t know _why_ you voluntarily spend your free time with a bunch of yapping dogs. A bunch of little loud rats.”

Jemma glared. “They’re sweet animals. You’re just horrible.” She dragged him along to the escalator. 

Simmons volunteered at an animal shelter on the weekends. She had for a few years. Fitz didn’t particularly even like animals. They were dull, and noisy, and really he only liked monkeys. They were smart and adorable and had the cutest little hands. The dogs weren’t very bright, in Fitz’s experience. They tended to be terrified of everything if they weren’t vicious and fearless and mean. The cats were better, they were smart and quiet, but they also were evil little buggers. They might not bite like mean dogs, but they would break things just because they were angry or piss on things to get back at their owners. So while Fitz didn’t particularly like pets, Simmons was a far kinder human being than him. She volunteered at the animal shelter and, though she knew he hated it, she always tried to drag him to the events. 

They had only been living in America for a short while. They had finished university and, thankfully, were hired as a team for the New York labs of Stark Industries. He didn’t know what he’d do without Simmons. He didn’t really have anybody else. They had been there for nearly a year and he hadn’t made a single friend. Simmons got on with a lot of people, but he struggled.

That said, Fitz didn’t want to spend his Saturday afternoon at a pet fair.

“Jemma, there is nothing for me to _do_ ,” he complained as they neared the area where the pet fair was set up. There was a lot of booths with different sorts of animals. There were some birds, and some rodents, and even one with reptiles. There were big dogs and small dogs and adults and puppies. There were also kittens and cats. Those were the ones getting the most attention as they walked past. 

When they spotted Simmons’s boss, Jemma waved. “Hi, Mary.”

Mary perked up. “Well look at that! You brought him after all.” She shook Fitz’s hand. “It’s lovely to see you, Fitz.”

“Erm, yeah” he said with an awkward smile. “Here I am.”

Simmons grinned. “Right, well, where are we, Mary?” she asked.

Mary nodded to a small fence set up around a bunch of puppies. “These little guys,” she said, and Fitz followed Simmons. Fitz looked down at them and one of them looked up at him with big, wide blue eyes that stuck out from his black fur, and let his tongue hang out as he bounced some and put his feet up on the fence. Fitz had to admit… he was almost cute. _Almost_. He had big, floppy ears, and he was black except for the white on his chest and belly. Mary laughed. “Looks like somebody made a friend,” she teased, reaching down to pet the puppy that was still looking intently up at Fitz.

Fitz chuckled and knelt down to pet the puppy. “Alright,” he said, rolling his eyes up at Jemma. “They’re cute,” he said, reaching out past the curious puppy to pet the others that had ran over to join their brother. “They’re so big,” he said, rubbing their little heads.

Mary chuckled. “They’re older than the blue eyes would suggest.” She nodded to the little sign on the front of their fence. “They’re some sort of lab mix, we’re pretty sure. If they were pure labs whoever abandoned the litter wouldn’t have abandoned them, they would’ve sold them.”

Jemma tutted, climbing into the little pen and sat amongst the puppies. They immediately started crawling all over her, making her giggle. “Awww how could anybody abandon you little sweeties?” she cooed, letting them kiss her face.

Fitz sat down on the chair to the side and looked at them, waving to Mary as she walked off. “People do that? They abandon whole litters of puppies?” he asked Jemma, who nodded.

“More often than you’d think.” She ruffled one’s floppy little ears. “Most likely their mum was a lab and she got out while she was in heat and they were left with a litter of mutts they couldn’t sell.”

“So they’d just abandon six puppies somewhere?” Fitz asked, looking at them. “Why not give them away?”

Simmons shrugged. “Maybe they couldn’t. Labs are pretty active, so they probably couldn’t give them away so easily. I think these little ones were left in an alley.”

Fitz frowned. “That’s just cruel,” he said, crossing his arms as he looked at the puppies. “I don’t even like dogs and that’s cruel.”

Jemma nodded. “Poor things,” she said, hugging the nearest puppy. Fitz nodded, looking at the puppies as they waited for people to come along and look at the puppies.

~

Mary came back and brought a clipboard with her. “Alright, fellas.” She smiled sadly at the last puppy that was left, who had fallen asleep in Fitz’s lap. “That’s it for the day.”

Simmons sighed, looking at the last puppy. “Poor thing. All his brothers and sisters found homes.”

Mary nodded. “Well, people tend to like solid colored dogs better than ones with white splotches, so it’s not that surprising.”

Fitz frowned, rubbing at its little ears. “What’ll happen to him?” he asked worriedly.

Mary shrugged. “Guess we’ll have to hope someone else picks him after the holidays.” She looked at a sheet on the clipboard and looked around at the booths breaking down around them. “That man down there,” she said, nodding to the last booth that hadn’t managed to get but one of their older dogs adopted all day. “He runs a long-term shelter.” She looked at the puppy in Fitz’s lap. “Your little friend has another two months before he has to be put in a long-term shelter. We don’t give any dogs to shelters that put animals down, so that’s where he’ll end up.”

Jemma smiled sadly. “Poor baby. They don’t get adopted much from long-term shelters.”

Mary nodded. “True, but there’s still hope. He’s a cute, healthy puppy. Chances are he’ll get adopted before he’s too old.” She sighed. “Hopefully.”

Fitz pouted as he rubbed the puppy’s ears. When the puppy opened his eyes and yawned, Fitz couldn’t help but smile when he shook his head, ears flopping. “Awww, adorable,” he cooed, rubbing his head. His chest tightened as he realized it was tie to nudge him off his lap and stand up. “I need to go now,” he murmured, gently putting the puppy on the floor before standing up. He walked over and stepped out of the little pen, only to stop when the puppy yipped and followed him. The puppy put his feet up on the fence and tilted his head at Fitz. Fitz waved. “I have go to, I’m sorry.”

When he and Simmons followed Mary, Fitz heard a whining and glanced back to see the puppy walking along the edge of the pen, trying to follow. It barked at him, a tiny little yip, jumping against the pen, like he was trying to jump over it and follow Fitz. Fitz waved at him, but it tugged at his heart to hear the puppy whining and barking after him as he followed Simmons and Mary to walk away from him.

~

All night Fitz tossed and turned, reminding himself over and over that he _didn’t need a dog_. He didn’t like dogs. He definitely didn’t need an active dog. He lived in an apartment, for crying out loud. He did _not_ need a dog.

… but the next morning he ended up dragging himself from bed, exhausted from dreams about that puppy’s adorable little face and the sound of him whining and trying to follow Fitz, and headed to the shelter anyways.

When he got there, Mary was the one at the front desk. She looked surprised. “Oh hey, Fitz. Jemma isn’t here,” she said and Fitz sighed.

“I know.” He put his hands in his pockets. “Erm… how would I need to go about adopting the puppy that was leftover yesterday?” he asked sullenly.

Mary raised an eyebrow. “You want him?”

Fitz pouted. “Did you see his little face when I _left_?!”

Mary chuckled, shaking her head. “Well, if you’re sure…” She trailed off and he nodded vigorously. She smiled. “Well, I’ll get the paperwork and we can start looking at vaccinations, scheduling for him to be neutered in a few months, and all the background stuff we need from you.”

Fitz nodded. “Alright. Just tell me what I need to do,” he said, rocking some as she went to get the paperwork started.

~

When he came to pick his puppy up, Jemma came with him, looking smug the whole time. He glared at her. “This is your fault. I didn’t even like dogs.” She didn’t get to reply before Mary came back with Fitz’s puppy on his leash, ready to go. He was trotting along, tail wagging and tongue lolling, looking as happy as a clam. “There we are,” Fitz said, kneeling down to pet him, scratching at his floppy ears. “My sweet little Chester.”

Simmons frowned. “You named your dog _Chester_?”

Fitz glared. “Yes, do you have a problem?” he asked, daring her to tease him or his puppy. He smiled and hugged Chester. “Alright, are you ready to come home with Dad?” he asked, standing up and taking the leash.

Chester yipped and wiggled around excitedly. Fitz just gave Simmons a smug look and headed out the door, letting Chester trot along beside him happily. She shook her head as she followed them, but Fitz just ignored her, smiling as he and Chester led the way.


End file.
